


Final Level

by peytra



Category: Half Life VR But The AI Is Self Aware
Genre: Boss Gordon AU, Gen, Narrative? I've never met her
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-03-01
Updated: 2021-03-01
Packaged: 2021-03-14 04:15:58
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 748
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29786322
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/peytra/pseuds/peytra
Summary: Inspired by friendlytroll's incredible Boss!Gordon AU, mostly chapters 2 and 4. No cohesive narrative here, just thoughts.
Kudos: 10





	Final Level

**Author's Note:**

  * Inspired by [Null Error AU](https://archiveofourown.org/works/24657484) by [friendlytroll](https://archiveofourown.org/users/friendlytroll/pseuds/friendlytroll). 



There is a rail. The rail goes in four directions. Once the flip has been switched, it can’t be undone. For those who can see the rail, it can seem tragic, but in the way that parasites invading a beehive is tragic. The way that lions catching gazelles in a nature documentary is tragic. In the way that so many of the world’s tiny injustices are tragic. Those who See have, generally, long accepted such things as natural. Perhaps even necessary.   
Gordon Freeman cannot See. But just as the bees occasionally beat the parasites, and just as the gazelle sometimes escapes the lion, someone on a rail can sometimes avoid throwing any switches at all. Of course, that means that the parasites die. That the lion can’t feed its cubs. Even as one thing lives, another dies.   
-  
There is a boss at the end of this level. It is not always the same boss. Mostly, it is Benrey, with his less-than righteous anger, with the ease he agitates the others. If it’s not Benrey, usually it’s Bubby. Bubby has a harsh temper, after all. He can take things the wrong way. Sometimes it’s Tommy. That’s always hard because Tommy never does it for cruel reasons. He’s always trying to help. It’s never quite the betrayal it is with the others. When the boss is Dr. Coomer… well, those times are better left unspoken.   
Gordon Freeman, for all his agitation, for all his annoyance, has somehow managed to avoid creating enemies amongst his friends. He takes jokes just a little better. He trusts just a little more easily. He plays along faster. He says, to the view of some, all the wrong things. And so, when the science team reaches the final area, it’s empty.   
But there is a boss at the end of this level. This is the natural state of the world. This is what the rail demands. If something thrives, something else must suffer.   
-  
In the aftermath. The after. What is after? Gordon is our dear narrator, our forced perspective. How can there ever be an after?   
-  
The boss is glitched into too many polygons. It phases through the floor, the ceiling, the walls, the world. The triangles mesh and the chamber changes. It’s Xen. It’s a black mesa hallway. It’s a charming suburban house. The stalactites flicker in and out of existence. The rail never planned for this eventuality, but that doesn’t mean it won’t force it. The train must go on.   
The boss has too many teeth. It has no eyes. It speaks in error codes. Underneath, if one listens, one can hear Gordon. The boss slashes wildly, unplanned and uncoordinated. The boss is not a good boss. The environment is more dangerous than it. The science team defeats it, and it is faster than any other boss fight.   
This does not make it easier.   
-  
G Man can See. He knows enough to know that there are beings even more powerful than himself, beings who can perceive things beyond his imagination. His power is incredible to humans, just as humans are incredible to ants. But even G Man is not perfect. Once in a while, he can even be surprised. He cannot fix Dr. Freeman, not entirely. But it is Tommy’s birthday, and so he will do his best. Besides, the rails demand that Freeman persist.   
-  
Things get better with time. Time is even more powerful than the rails- it allows no other recourse. Everyone finds their own measure of happiness. They become professors, streamers, boxers, dog walkers. They find hobbies that they love and they take Joshua to the park on the weekends. Things are good, mostly.   
-  
Gordon was human. Humans are not meant to become more. Gordon had never been designated for more. A man cannot become what he had become without changing.   
The science team is not generally known for their discretion. If they’ve noticed anything, they haven’t said it. Perhaps they are finally learning tact. Perhaps they simply don’t really know what’s normal for a human. If Gordon himself notices the changes, he never acknowledges them.   
-  
There is a boss at the end of this level. There is a rail that goes in four- no, five directions. There is regret whenever they think about it for too long. There are parasites in hives, there are lions killing gazelles. There are a hundred, thousand, million tiny injustices that the rail demands. There is a boss at the end of this level.

**Author's Note:**

> Here I am, making my triumphant return to fanfic with HLVRAI fic. Ah well. I am at [butch-shepard](https://www.tumblr.com/blog/butch-shepard) on Tumblr.


End file.
